Folding rear sight for rifles

ABSTRACT

Folding rifle rear sight, of which the resilient base is, with the exception of an anchor key, a blanked metal part with spaced rear prongs of which endlengths are offset and have intermediate their outwardly projecting and aligned fingers that extend into apertures in spaced ears on the sight leaf for pivotal support of the latter on the base, with these fingers being applied to these apertured ears by resiliently flexing the spaced base prongs toward each other for entering the fingers between the spaced ears and into alignment with the apertures therein, and then simply releasing the base prongs for snap of the fingers into the apertures in the ears.

Ute States ate 1 39755991 Osborne Sept. 4, 1973 [54] FOLDING REAR SIGHT FOR RIFLES 920,767 5/1909 Lindberg 33/57 [75] Inventor: William E. Osborne, Guilford, Conn. Primary Examiner Louis R Prince [73] Assignee: The Marlin Firearms Company, Assistant Examiner-Charles E. Phillips North Haven, Conn. Attorney -walter Spruegel [22] Filed: Apr. 5, 1971 ABSTRACT PP 130,891 Folding rifle rear sight, of which the resilient base is, with the exception of an anchor key, a blanked metal 521 US. Cl. 33/255 P with Spaced Pmhgs which ehdlehgths are 51 1 im. c1. F4lg 1/28 Offset and have intermediate their hhvardly P i [58] Field of Search 33/53, 55, 57, 56 R, and aligned fingers that extend apertures in Spaced 33/58 R, 254, 255 ears on the sight leaf for pivotal support of the latter on the base, with these fingers being applied to these aper- [56] References Cited tured ears by resiliently flexing the spaced base prongs UNITED STATES PATENTS toward each other for entering the fingers between the spaced ears and into alignment with the apertures l,288,3;9 12/1918 Barton 33/53 R therein, and h simply releasing the base p g for snap of the fingers into the apertures in the ears.

11251000 2/19l8 Hewes 33 53 R 4 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures FOLDING REAR SIGHT FOR RIFLES This invention relates to rifle sights in general, and to folding rear sights for rifles in particular.

Folding rear sights for rifles commonly provide a lon-- gitudinal base, a sight leaf, and a leaf elevator, of which the base has spaced rear prongs and is at its front end releasably anchored to the barrel, usually by a transverse key formation in tight fit with a dovetail groove in the barrel, the sight leaf is pivoted on raised rear lug formations on the spaced base prongs for swinging motion into upright or sight position and into folded position against the base in case a telescopic sight is mounted on the rifle and the sight leaf is not used, and the elevator is a stepped wedge which rests on the barrel and extends beneath the pivoted sight leaf, with this elevator being guided between the base prongs for longitudinal adjustment on the barrel to elevate or lower the leaf to the correct sight level and the base acting like a leaf spring urging the sight leaf down into seating engagement with the elevator. The sight leaf customarily has a detent which projects between the lug formations on the base and has beneath the pivot mount of the leaf a surface with which the leaf in its upright position is seated on a step on the adjusted elevator, with this elevator step and the thereon seated leaf surface cooperating to hold the upright leaf backed against raised lips on the lug formations on the base sufficiently firmly to withstand recoil of the rifle on firing, but to yield to a determined effort to swing the leaf into its folded position.

While these prior rear sights are satisfactory in most respects, including their sight accuracy, they are objectionable in a few, but important, respects. Thus, their structural make-up is such that they do not readily lend themselves to efficient mass production, and they are really high-cost items for rifles. In this connection, the base is customarily a rather costly single part, usually a forging, which must be kept within fairly close dimensional tolerances at its lug formations at least. Further, the key formation on the base, being customarily a dovetail projection thereon, requires machining of the opposite inclined sides thereof even on a forged base, which further adds appreciably to the cost of these rear sights. Also, the sight leaf is customarily pivoted to the lug formations on the base by means of a pin, which requires tedious drilling of the usual small holes not only in the sight leaf but also in the hard material of the lug formations on the forged base, and involves the further tedious task of aligning the drilled holes in these parts and inserting the small pin thereinto, thus still further adding to the cost of these rear sights.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide for rifles a folding rear sight which in its sight accuracy and also other respects is at least as satisfactory as the aforementioned prior sights, yet lends itself to highly efficient mass production at a cost which is very much lower than that of these prior sights.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a folding rear sight, of which the base with its rear leaf-mounting and front key formations is of exceeding structural simplicity, with the entire base, save the front key formation thereon, being a part which in a simple die operation is blanked from sheet stock, preferably steel of some resiliency, and simultaneously finishformed even in the same die operation, and as such is ready for its immediate assembly with, and secure pivot mount of, the sight leaf, as well as accurate location thereon of the latter in its upright and folded positions, without requiring either drilling of the blanked part or recourse to a separate pivot pin. To this end, the blanked part is a longitudinal plate having spaced longitudinal rear prongs for guidance of the usual leaf elevator, of which like endlengths of the prongs are elevated above the remainder of the latter, preferably by being simply bent from the substantially flat remainder of the plate to form an obtuse angle therewith, and these bent prong ends have intermediate their lengths outwardly projecting and aligned fingers, with these fingers serving as the pivot for the sight leaf, and the bent prong ends serving as a locating seat for the sight leaf in its upright position. The pivot mount of the sight leaf is thus of simple snap-on type, involving simply resilient flexing of the spaced base prongs toward each other for entry of the fingers between apertured spaced ears on the sight leaf, and then release of the prongs for snap of the fingers into the aligned apertures in these cars which concludes the pivot mount of the leaf. For accurate location on the bent prong ends of the sight leaf in its upright position, the latter has a preferably machined surface which is then uniformly seated on these bent prong ends rearwardly of the projecting fingers thereon so as not to interfere with deliberate forward pivoting of the leaf from its upright position into its folded position.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a folding rear sight, of which the key formation on the base is a customary dovetail projection thereon, with this key being, in the case of the aforementioned blanked base part, a part separate from, and secured to, this blanked part, and such key parts for many rear sights being simply cut from relatively long steel bars eachof which is in a single operation machined into the required dovetail section. With this further arrangement, each base is finished without requiring any machining, and the key part is, in an appropriate fixture, quickly and accurately united with the blanked base part, as by instantaneous resistance welding, for example.

Further objects and advantages will appear to those skilled in the art from the following, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes of carrying out the present invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged top view of a rifle-mounted folding rear sight embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the same rifle-mounted folding rear sight, with the section taken substantially on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of part of the mounted rear sight;

FIG. 4 is a section through the mounted rear sight along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a section taken substantially along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary section taken substantially on the line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 7-7 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a section through a prominent element of the rear sight in a position different from that in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary section through the mounted if: sgght in an adjusted position different from that of Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 to 5 thereof, the reference numeral designates a folding rear sight which is mounted on a rifle barrel 12. The folding rear sight 10 comprises a base 14, a sight leaf 16, and a leaf elevator 18. The sight is at the forward end of its base 14 mounted on the barrel l2, and the base 14 has to this end a transverse key 20 which is customarily received with a tight fit in a clovetail groove 22 in the barrel (FIGS. 2 and 7).

Except for its key 22, the base 14 is a resilient longitudinal part 24 with spaced rear prongs 26 on which the sight leaf 16 is pivotally mounted. To the end of thus pivotally mounting the sight leaf, and in accordance with one aspect of the invention, the rear prongs 26 have near their ends outwardly projecting and aligned fingers 28 which project into apertures 30 in spaced ears 32 on the sight leaf which straddle the rear prongs 26, with these fingers 28 serving as the pivot mount of the sight leaf for swinging the latter into its upright or sight position (FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) and into its folded position (FIG. 8). The base part 24 acts as a spring to draw the sight leaf 16 in either of its positions down into seating engagement with the elevator 18 which rests on the barrel l2 and is guided between the rear prongs 26 of the base for longitudinal adjustment. The fingers 28 on the rear prongs 26 are, in the absence of the elevator I8 between the latter, applied to the apertured ears 32 of the sight leaf, by resiliently flexing the rear prongs 26 toward each other with a suitable tool, such as a pair of pliers, for entry of these fingers 28 between the ears 32 and into alignment with the apertures 30 therein, whereupon the rear prongs 26 are released for snap of the fingers 28 into the aligned apertures 30, which concludes the pivot mount of the sight leaf on the base. The sight leaf 16 has the usual sight notch 34, with the sight direction being in the direction of the arrow 36 in FIG. 1.

The elevator 18 is in the customary form of a wedge with ascending steps 38 at its top, and a finger rest 40 for adjusting the elevator on the barrel to raise or lower the sight leaf 16 in its upright position to the correct sight level.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the resilient longitudinal part 24 of the base 14 is a metal plate of substantially uniform thickness which is blanked from sheet stock, preferably somewhat resilient steel plate, and has short endlengths 42 of the rear prongs 26 offset from theremainder of the metal plate 24 (FIGS. 2 to 6), with the pivot fingers 28 projecting from these offset prong portions 42 intermediate their lengths. Preferably, these offset prong portions 42 are simply bent into inclination with the remainder of the metal plate 24 to form an obtuse angle A therewith (FIG. 6). The prong ends 42 are thus offset to elevate the sight leaf 16 in its upright position so that the same clears the barrel 12 with its ears 32 and is by the metal plate 24 urged into seating engagement with even the lowest step 38 on the elevator 18 (FIG. 2). The metal plate 24 with the spaced rear prongs 26 and fingers 28 thereon are thus blanked from sheet stock in a simple die operation, and the ends 42 of the prongs 26 are offset or bent into their inclined disposition in the sameor a subsequent die operation.

Base plates 24 for many folding rear sights are thus obtained in highly efficient and low-cost mass production, by blanking them from sheet stock and forming their offset prong ends by bending, in simple die operations and without any subsequent machining. Further, keys 20 for many folding rear sights are advantageously cut from relatively long steel bars each of which is in a single operation machined into the required dovetail section, with these keys being preferably in an appropriate fixture, quickly and accurately united at 45 with blanked base parts 24 (FIG. 7), as by instantaneous resistance welding, for example.

The sight leaf 16 has between the spaced ears 32 a preferably machined rear surface 46 which in the upright leaf position rests on the inclined prong ends 42 rearwardly of the projecting pivot fingers 28 thereon (FIGS. 2 and 6), with this surface 46 being over the widths of the inclined prong ends 42 terminated at 48 so as not to interfere with forced forward pivoting of the sight leaf from its upright position (FIG. 6) into its folded position (FIG. 8). This rear surface 46 is in this instance continued forwardly at 50 as the bottom surface of a lug formation 52 on the sight leaf which extends widthwise over the space between the inclined prong ends 42 (FIGS. 1 and 2), with the sight leaf in its upright position being by the resilient base plate 24 urged with this bottom surface 50 into seating engagement with one of the steps 38 on the elevator, and more particularly with an inclined flank 54 of such step (FIG. 2), whereby the sight leaf is with its rear surface 46 backed against the inclined prong ends 42 (FIG. 6) with sufficient force to withstand recoil of the rifle on firing, but to give way to a deliberately exerted force for pivoting the sight leaf from its upright position (FIGS. 2 and 6) into its folded position (FIG. 8). The lug formation 52 on the sight leaf 16, by being in its width confined to, and aligned with, the space between the inclined prong ends 42, does not interfere with forced pivoting of this leaf from upright into folded position, and in the folded leaf position projects into the space between these prong ends 42 (FIG. 8). In thus pivoting the sight leaf 16 from its upright position into its folded position on the longitudinally immovable base 14, the sight leaf will cooperate with the elevator tooth on which it rests (FIG. 2) to drag the elevator 18 rearwardly and bring the other inclined flank of this tooth into position for rest thereon of the leaf in its folded position with an inclined front surface 62 of its lug formation 52 (FIG. 8). Conversely, the elevator 18 will, by the sight leaf 16, be shifted forwardly on pivoting the leaf from its folded position (FIG. 8) into its upright position.

If sight level correction of the leaf 16 should require seating of the same on a higher step 38 on the elevator 18, such as the second highest step, for example, the elevator 18 is adjusted rearwardly for one step (FIG. 9).

The apertures 30 in the spaced ears 32 on the sight leaf 16 are sufficiently large to afford some lateral play between them and the pivot fingers 28.on the base 14 to facilitate insertion of these fingers into the apertures in the explained manner, but such lateral play between them is taken up in the mounted rear sight due to the forced seating of the sight leaf on the elevator by the resilient base, so that the rear sight is, in its sight performance, as accurate as though the pivot fingers had a precision fit in the apertures 30.

What is claimed is:

I. A barrel-mounted folding rear sight, comprising a resilient longitudinal metal base having a barrelmounted front and spaced longitudinal rear prongs with integral outwardly-projecting and aligned fingers intermediate their lengths; a rigid sight leaf having spaced apertured ears straddling said prongs, with said fingers projecting into said apertures in said ears for pivotal movement of said leaf on said base into upright and folded positions thereon, and said prongs being resiliently flexible toward each other and releasable for retraction of said fingers from, and their projection into, said apertures, respectively; and an elevator slidablc on the barrel and guided between said prongs for adjustment on the barrel, with said leaf being by said base resiliently seated on said elevator, and said leaf c0- operating with said elevator to be in its upright position resiliently backed against said prongs, and to yield to forced pivoting from back-up against said prongs into its folded position, and said side leaf and elevator cooperating to lock said base prongs against resilient flexure to and from each other.

2. A barrel-mounted folding rear sight, comprising a resilient longitudinal metal plate of substantially uniform thickness having spaced longitudinal rear prongs of which endlengths are equally bent upwards away from the remainder of the plate and have intermediate their lengths integral outwardly projecting and aligned fingers; means at the front of said plate mounting the latter on the barrel; a rigid sight leaf having spaced apertured ears straddling said offset prong lengths, with said fingers projecting into said apertures in said ears for pivotal movement of said leaf on said plate into upright and folded positions thereon, and said prongs being resiliently flexible toward each other and releasable for retraction of said fingers from, and their projection into, said apertures, respectively; and an elevator slidable on the barrel and guided between said prongs for adjustment on the barrel, with said leaf being by said plate resiliently seated on said elevator, and said leaf cooperating with said elevator to be in its upright position resiliently backed against said offset prong lengths, and to yield to forced pivoting from back-up against said offset prong lengths into its folded position, and said sight leaf and elevator cooperating to lock said base prongs against resilient flexure to and from each other.

3. A barrel-mounted folding rear sight as in claim 2, in which said metal plate including said fingers is a blanked part, with said fingers being rectangular in section.

4. A barrel-mounted folding rear sight as in claim 2, in which said endlengths extend at an inclination to the remainder of the plate and form therewith an obtuse 

1. A barrel-mounted folding rear sight, comprising a resilient longitudinal metal base having a barrel-mounted front and spaced longitudinal rear prongs with integral outwardly-projecting and aligned fingers intermediate their lengths; a rigid sight leaf having spaced apertured ears straddling said prongs, with said fingers projecting into said apertures in said ears for pivotal movement of said leaf on said base into upright and folded positions thereon, and said prongs being resiliently flexible toward each other and releasable for retraction of said fingers from, and their projection into, said apertures, respectively; and an elevator slidable on the barrel and guided between said prongs for adjustment on the barrel, with said leaf being by said base resiliently seated on said elevator, and said leaf cooperating with said elevator to be in its upright position resilientlY backed against said prongs, and to yield to forced pivoting from back-up against said prongs into its folded position, and said side leaf and elevator cooperating to lock said base prongs against resilient flexure to and from each other.
 2. A barrel-mounted folding rear sight, comprising a resilient longitudinal metal plate of substantially uniform thickness having spaced longitudinal rear prongs of which endlengths are equally bent upwards away from the remainder of the plate and have intermediate their lengths integral outwardly projecting and aligned fingers; means at the front of said plate mounting the latter on the barrel; a rigid sight leaf having spaced apertured ears straddling said offset prong lengths, with said fingers projecting into said apertures in said ears for pivotal movement of said leaf on said plate into upright and folded positions thereon, and said prongs being resiliently flexible toward each other and releasable for retraction of said fingers from, and their projection into, said apertures, respectively; and an elevator slidable on the barrel and guided between said prongs for adjustment on the barrel, with said leaf being by said plate resiliently seated on said elevator, and said leaf cooperating with said elevator to be in its upright position resiliently backed against said offset prong lengths, and to yield to forced pivoting from back-up against said offset prong lengths into its folded position, and said sight leaf and elevator cooperating to lock said base prongs against resilient flexure to and from each other.
 3. A barrel-mounted folding rear sight as in claim 2, in which said metal plate including said fingers is a blanked part, with said fingers being rectangular in section.
 4. A barrel-mounted folding rear sight as in claim 2, in which said endlengths extend at an inclination to the remainder of the plate and form therewith an obtuse angle. 